Brendan Barber calls for new policies for growth and jobs at Liverpool conference

date: 9 March 2012

embargo: 00.01hrs Saturday 10 March 2012

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber will expose the failures of the government's austerity programme and call for policies for growth and jobs at the North West TUC's annual conference in Liverpool today (Saturday).

Speaking later today (check against delivery) Brendan Barber will say: 'These are profoundly tough times for working people and it's no exaggeration to say the political and economic climate is the most difficult since the dark days of the 1980s.

'Now history could be repeating itself. Almost three million people are without work, we're seeing cuts of unprecedented scale and speed, the NHS and education system broken up and sold off to the highest bidder, workplace rights such as protection from unfair dismissal attacked as red tape, and young people growing up without the hope of decent work or a chance to study at university.

'This is a reckless, ideological government and its policies are having a devastating effect on the lives of millions of people. Liverpool - a city still scarred by the experience of the 1980s - is now being hit by public sector job losses, cuts to services, and rising unemployment, with a claimant rate of almost nine per cent in the Liverpool Walton and Bootle constituencies.

'Jobs are pretty thin on the ground -there are 22 claimants for every vacancy in Knowsley, 14 in Sefton, 13 in St Helens, and 11 in the Wirral. Across the North West and most of Britain, it's the same story - rising unemployment, a struggling economy, and the services people rely on being pared to the bone. Ordinary workers are paying the price for a crisis caused by rich bankers in the City of London - people who are now paying themselves billions in bonuses.

'We must build a fairer economy and a brighter future for all by continuing to fight the cuts in our workplaces, our communities, and our towns and cities. Whether it's the £18 billion being slashed from people's benefits, the real-terms reduction in NHS spending or the tight financial straightjacket being imposed on local authorities, it's clear that the cuts are biting hard and it's the poorest and most vulnerable who are the worst affected.

'With public sector jobs losses now predicted to reach over 700,000 and public servants facing yet more pay misery, worse is set to come. We must resist the tide of social and economic destruction being unleashed by this government. And let me say that the TUC continues to seek a fair, just settlement to the public sector pensions dispute.

'Whether it's in our workplaces or our communities we've got to campaign, organise and mobilise against austerity. We need to build alliances with those organisations that share our aims, reach out to workers whether they belong to a union or not, and encourage as many people as possible to get involved.

'But we must also win the intellectual battle for Britain's future, and our second main priority in the year ahead is setting out a clear alternative to austerity. A key part of the challenge is getting our case across persuasively to the British public. Ministers want people to believe that austerity will be worth it in the long run and that the sacrifices we are making now will pay dividends at some point in the future, but it won't like be this - austerity means high unemployment, stagnant wages and falling living standards for the duration.

'As the evidence shows in Britain and across Europe - Greece being the most extreme example - austerity begets more austerity. By destroying growth, jobs and tax revenues, it is completely self defeating - which is why the Chancellor was forced to announce an extra £158 billion of borrowing in his Autumn Statement.

'Instead of all this pain for no gain, we need to give ordinary working people a sense of hope about their prospects. We need to develop, enhance and publicise our case for a different strategy based on growth, jobs and tax justice. It's only through building a fairer, stronger economy ­­­- providing decent work and decent wages for all - that we'll be able to deal with our debts in the long term.

'Our third key priority for 2012 is saving our health service. It's not just the economy where this government's policies aren't working. Wherever you look - from its cack-handed work experience scheme to the privatisation of prisons; from the massive acceleration of free schools and academies to the trebling of tuition fees and the abolition of EMA - the government is causing immense damage to the services we all rely on.

'Its driving philosophy is simple - more competition, more privatisation, less state provision accessible to all. Nowhere are the dangers greater than when it comes to our National Health Service. Before the election the Prime Minister said that the NHS would be safe in his hands, that there would be no more top-down reorganisations. He deceived the electorate - the Health and Social Care Bill represents the biggest upheaval in the history of the NHS.

'This is a Bill that is wrong for patients, wrong for staff, and wrong for Britain. Nobody voted for these reforms, nobody wants them, and nobody supports them.

'The only beneficiaries will be management consultants, private healthcare firms and big business. Despite ministers' attempts to convince us otherwise the implications are plain to see.

'There will be a postcode lottery of care, NHS patients could be pushed to the back of the queue by those with fatter cheque books, and private firms will cherry pick the most lucrative work - leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab for everything else. I was proud to speak at the Save our NHS rally in Westminster on Wednesday, and with the Bill currently passing through the Lords, it's vital we keep the pressure up on ministers to abandon this monumental folly.

'We can make progress. The arguments are on our side, the overwhelming majority of NHS professionals are on our side, and most importantly of all, the British people are on our side. So let the message go out loud and clear - our NHS is not for sale.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The conference takes place is from 10am-4pm today (Saturday) at the Devonshire House Hotel,
293-297 Edge Lane, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 9LD. Brendan Barber will speak at around 11am.

- The conference includes nine separate motions committing union members to defend public services, three motions on young people, children and disabled workers, and motions on supporting unemployed workers, justice at work and the environment.

- Media are welcome to attend. For more information please contact Matthew Finnegan on mfinnegan@tuc.org.uk or call 07807 033 438.

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk